Naruto Drabbles
by Aperu
Summary: A series of Naruto drabbles. Mainly gen. Occasional BL. See individual chapters for warnings and summaries.
1. Flicker

**1.**

**Title:** Flicker   
**Rating:** PG   
**Summary:** Walking blind. 

Konoha is summerland. It's all he knows. 

Homebound, the gritty yellow of the Sand dulls to brown beneath his feet. And ahead, the ground bursts into green. So close now. What is it? Two hundred yards? One hundred? 

Eyes blink wide, straining. Legs stumble. It must be a rock, surely. Those blasted white spots, dancing around his head. He can't see. Can't see. Not with the blackness eating away at the edges of his sight. It hasn't escaped his notice, not really – the colours kaleidoscoping as his vision tapers… Narrows, narrows, and disappears. 

Darkness reigns. 

Behind him, footprints bloom red. 

**END**


	2. Habits

**2.**

**Title:** Habits   
**Character:** Hyuuga Hinata   
**Rating:** PG   
**Summary:** On an ever spinning wheel. 

Hyuuga. A name. A curse. 

Hinata feels it most in times of peace, when, having exhausted herself with domestic trivialities, her mind refuses to stay idle and casts a web of memory around the house. Little Hanabi practises seals in the main courtyard. Father watches her hands. Hinata looks away. They disappear. 

Time. She never felt it slipping through her fingers, but there's a pool of sand beneath her feet. No one else notices, or catches the way she stares at her reflection, as if wrinkles might sprout any moment. 

And waking is a touch less bearable each morning, the reality of this wretched life – this everything – jolting her into awareness like a wet towel to the face. Because one does not be Hyuuga; one must live Hyuuga, breathe Hyuuga, die Hyuuga. 

It shouldn't be so bad. Everyone has a cross to bear, and this is hers. Pity is a half-formed thought from long ago, a distant twinge of desire she might have felt when she was too young to understand disappointment and devastation and duty. 

Neji certainly knew. Had always known, even. At the funeral, words of pride and glory hung from the corners of Father's mouth while bodies piled up in the streets. Hyuugas always had time for custom and propriety. But there was no dignity in Neji's ugly sacrifice. And nothing honourable about milky eyes blackening, laboured breath, and last words that weren't an apology, a confession, but a whispered command. 'Run.' 

Nobody blamed her. Hinata's guilt increased tenfold. Somewhere along the line, it stifled her heart. 

"Hiroshi. Don't run in the halls." 

**END**


	3. Choices

**3.**

**Title:** Choices   
**Characters:** Naruto   
**Rating:** G   
**Summary:** It's an awful thing, inevitability. 

The Ichiraku Ramen Stall holds a special place in Naruto's heart. And stomach. 

As far as he's concerned, there's no better place to have his final meal. So he slips in, grinning cheerfully and making a good old-fashioned ruckus, and with his shock of sunny hair and pressed periwinkle eyes, there's really no mistaking him, even though the orange jumpsuit's long been replaced. 

When he leaves, the old man brandishes his wok and yells after him, "Go get 'em, eh?" 

Naruto beams and gives his usual reply. "Sure thing, pops." 

He's sick of ramen, these days. 

**END**


	4. Normalcy

**4.**

**Title:** Normalcy   
**Rating:** G   
**Summary:** Fruitless ponderings.   
**Word Count:** 100   
**A/N:** Challenge was 'the impossible.' 

Sunrise, and heavy-eyed Konoha rumbles slowly awake. The bakers open up first, with a blast of sweet-smelling bread. Then the fishmonger and his wife. A baby, screaming its little lungs out. 

Skipping roof to roof, passing the village by, he wonders what it is to be civilian, though he can never know. No mission reports to deliver. No missions at all. 

He has chosen another way. For him, sleep is not sleep (oasis in exhaustion). And life is not life, but death's mere prelude. Shinobi is the only constant. 

Even atop the rafters, he is no closer to the moon. 

**END**


	5. Playground Fiascoes

**5.**

**Title:** Playground Fiascoes   
**Summary:** It's always the quiet ones.   
**Pairing:** Slight Shino/Hinata   
**Word Count:** 97 

She isn't pretty like Sakura, or brave like Ino. Hinata is shy and awkward. It takes months to summon enough courage, to fidget and finally stammer, 'Can I sit with you?' They run away from her eyes. 

Shino doesn't have eyes. Or so the other children say – why else would he wear sunglasses indoors? They say he's stupid too, and mute, so when he beats them in test scores, why then, he must have cheated. 

Hinata is a little scared of Shino. She doesn't think it's mere coincidence that Naruto-kun always has bug sandwiches for lunch. 

**END**


End file.
